The pandemic has left many of us feeling a bit shaggy and in need of a trim.
But that was never more true than for Baarack, a sheep recently found laden with 35 kilograms of heavy wool and desperately in need of some shearing.
“This woolly boy was found wandering in the rugged Victorian bushland, in much need of a haircut,” Edgar’s Mission, an Australian animal rescue organization, explained.
Pam Ahern, founder of the animal sanctuary, explained that Baarack suffered malnourishment, couldn’t see very well and had trouble walking when he was found.
“The wild mouflon, from whom Baarack and his kind have, throughout the ages, been selectively bred, did fine on their own — navigating rocky terrain, dodging predators and shedding their hair annually in harmony with the seasons. But not so today; they rely on humans for sustenance, shelter and shearing, and failure on any of these fronts oft times proves fatal for these animals,” the sanctuary said.
Someone had spotted Baarack in the forest he called home for a few years, but knew his dishevelled state was becoming far too much.
“Realising what they chose to do next would determine whether the animal before them lived or died, the goodness of the human heart came to the fore and Baarack was saved,” the sanctuary added.
And so Edgar’s Mission went to work sheering and cutting the matted, heavy coat away from the wayward sheep.
These days, sheep need at least one annual shearing for their welfare.
That’s because they’ve been bred over years for harvesting their coats for commercial reasons. In the past, they would grow dense coats to keep them warm in winter, but shed that wool in the summer.
Cleaning up Baarack wasn’t easy.
He had little contact with humans. But in the end, 35 kgs of wool was removed.
It must have felt like the weight of the world was lifted to Baarack.
He couldn’t have survived for much longer the way he was.
“From relieving him of all that wool, removing the long and pointy grass seed that had become wedged between his cornea and eyelid that had caused a nasty ulcer, through to the many hours we spent painstakingly plucking dozens and dozens of doggedly determined grass seeds that had ploughed their way into his flesh, Baarack, a being of reason, sees us as the good guys,” the group added.
Baarack is now spending his time eating and hanging out with other rescue sheep.
“He is blissfully ignorant of the media storm he has created, the only hint of his past trauma being the few shearing nicks that mark his body (and they will soon heal),” Edgar’s Mission said.
Baarack is one lucky — and famous — boy.
“We are reminded of the incredible power of kindness, and the cascading effect it can have on all touched by its wake,” the sanctuary added. “And in seeing animals such as he, having the courage and will to live again, beating the odds, we are reminded that every being who treads upon this earth wants, needs, deserves and responds to kindness.”
Baarack, putting the world on notice…❤🌎 Whilst today he may be a shadow of the animal he once was, Baarack is indeed…
Posted by Edgar's Mission on Thursday, February 25, 2021
Photos: Edgar’s Mission
